Henry Alvin Mahony was born in Thackley in 1883. He had a brother Thomas Cyril (a dentist in Bingley) and 5 sisters. His father Henry was a dental surgeon with a practice on Otley Road, Shipley.
After he qualified as a dentist, H Alvin originally worked at 43 Manningham Lane in Bradford.
At a Board Meeting of the Sir Titus Salt Hospital in May 1911 H Alvin was unanimously appointed Honorary Dental Surgeon. He succeeded Mr W Sunderland who had left the district. Making the motion Mr Allsopp stated that
Mr Mahony is a Licentiate in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, a Medallist in Mechanical Dentistry at the Edubury Dental Hospital, a member of the British Dental Association and of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics, Honorary Secretary at the Leeds District Association of the Dental Association and is Honorary Assistant Dental Surgeon at the Leeds Public Dispensary. That Mr Mahony is the successor to one of the best dental practitioners in Bradford and that he considered that the Hospital fortunate in being able to appoint a Dental Surgeon so eminent in his profession.
In 1912 H Alvin became the first dentist to run a new dental clinic for school children established by Shipley Education Committee.
In May 1914 H Alvin gave a special paper at the Dentist’s Conference held in Bradford. Although he resigned later that year, he remained a member of the Honorary Medical Staff at the Hospital until at least 1917.
In 1915 he married Gertrude Elizabeth Atkinson, the daughter of a builder’s merchant. He continued to have an illustrious career later working for the Ministry of Pensions as Deputy Commissioner of Medical Services (Dental). In 1924 he spoke at the British Dental Association’s annual general meeting on “Some economic aspects of public dental service.” By 1926 he had become Secretary of Public Dental Services Association of Great Britain. He lectured on the dental service in industry where he said that
90% of those engaged in industry were dentally unfit. The large majority of the people of this country had mouths with which adequate mastication and assimilation of food was impossible. Such a condition of affairs was taken for granted because defective teeth were not concerned with sudden death but could be generally accepted as a potential cause of serious illness.
He went on to give examples of heart disease, kidney infections and neurasthenia.
In 1947 the British Medical Journal reported that he was to be given an honorary degree by the University of Leeds. In the Birthday Honours list of 1948, he was made a CBE. He died on 8 July 1967, leaving his widow Gertrude and effects worth £1313.
References:
Sir Titus Salts Charity. Board, Finance, Hospital Committee Meetings Minute Book 1911-1919
The Scotsman Friday August 1 1924
Oxford Chronicle & Reading Gazette Friday 17 September 1926